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I (No Model.)

- 3 SheetsS heet 1. J. PPEIFER.

AUTOGRAPHIG REGISTER. No. 484,644. Patented Oct. 18, 1892.

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(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. PPEIPER. AUTOGRAPHIG REGISTER.

No. 484,644. Patented Oct. 18, 1892.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

J1 PFEIFER.

AUTOGRAPHIO REGISTER.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN PFEIFER, OF DAYTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE NATIONAL CASH REGISTER COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

AUTOGRAPHIC REGISTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 484,644, dated October 18, 1892.

Serial No. 430,729. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern;

Be itknown that I, JOHN PFEIFER, a citizen of the United States, residingat Dayton,in the county of Montgomery and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Autographic Registers, of which the following is a description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

Mypresent invention consists, mainly, in an improvement upon the machine shown and described in my pending application, Serial No. 422,739, filed February 25,- l892, and its novelty will be herein set forth, and specifically pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a top plan view of the machine; Fig. 2, a vertical longitudinal section of the same, and Fig. 3 a side elevation, with the front of the casing unlocked and thrown forward, the knife-bar raised, and a portion of the side of the casing broken away to expose the parts within.

The same letters of reference are used to indicate identical parts in all the figures.

The casing A of the machine has a hinged lid B and a hinged front wall O. W hen the front wall is in position, the rear edge of the top plate D, carried by it, fits over shoulders E upon the front ends of the side flanges of the lid B and locks said lid. The front wall is itself locked up in position by dogs F, which engage catch-plates Gr, secured upon the rear ends of brackets H, projecting rearwardly from said wall. The dogs F are fast on a rock-shaft I, which has fast upon its righthand end, just within the right side of the casing, a rearwardly'extending arm J, whose rear end rests upon the bolt K of a lock L, controllable by a key from without the casing, Fig. 3. When the front wall of the casing is brought up into position and the bolt of the lock then thrown upward by means of a key, the dogs F will be thrown downward over the catches G and lock the wall in position. When the bolt of the lock is thrown downward, as seen in Fig. 3, a spring M, connected at its upper end to a pin projecting rearwardly from the shaft I, Fig. 2, and at its lower end to some suitable support, will pull down the arm J and throw up the dogs F and release the front wall. The two check-strips are carried in rolls N O and led up over guide-rollers P, and thence forward over the writing-tablet Q, suitably supported beneath the opening R in the forward inclined portion of the lid. Thence the two strips are led beneath a knifebar S, carried by arms T, hinged at their rear ends to the sides of the lid B. This knifebar preferably has a serrated cutting-blade U secured to its under side and projecting forward, and is also provided with a handle V, by which it may be raised and lowered. The record-strip is carried in a roll W, whence it is led upward through a transverse slot W in the tablet-plate Q, thence forward over said plate to its front end, thence downward between the feed-rollers X Y, and wound upon a storage-reel Z. The feed-roller X is journaled at its ends in the sides of the casing, while the roller Y isjournaled in slots in the brackets H, Fig. 3. The roller Y may be adjusted toward and from the roller X, to regulate their pressure against each other, by means of adj listing-screws A, passed through the front wall of the casing and brackets H and bearing at their rear ends against the spindle of the roller Y. The feed-roller X and the storage-reel Z each has fast upon its left-hand end a pinion, (not shown,) which meshes with a gear-wheel B',loosely mounted upon a stud 0' upon the left hand side of the casing; also, loosely mounted upon the stud O, beside the gear B, is an arm D, which carries at its front end a pawl E, springpressed into engagement with the gear B. The front end of the arm D is connected by a link F to a pendent lug or arm G upon the knife-bar S, the result being that whenever the knife-bar is raised the gear B is turned and the feed-rollers X Y and storagereel Z actuated to draw forward and wind up the record-strip. Suitable strips of carbonpaper (not shown) are carried in a roll within the casing 11' upon the left-hand side of the casing, Fig. 1, and led across the face of the tablet Q between the several stripsinthe usual manner, their free ends being held between the upper edge of the right-hand side of the casing and the lid resting thereon.

The operation of this much of the machine may be described as follows: With the parts in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the clerk writes the desired memoranda upon the outer check-strip through the opening R in the lid of the machine, writing the various items upon the upper or rear portion of the strip exposed through said opening and the footing upon the lower portion thereof, so that the footing will be duplicated upon the record-strip W, passed over the forward part of the plate Q, between slot W therein and the front end of the plate, while allthe memoranda written upon the outer check-stripN will be duplicated upon the inner check-strip 0. He then throws up the knife-bar by means of the handle V and grasps the front ends of the check-strips, which lie beneath said bar, and pulls them forward untilthe matter written upon them is carried in front of the bar. He then depresses the handle and tears off the two checks against the serrated tearing-edge U. The plate D has a depression or bowl in it near its middle, at l, to enable the clerk to more easily grasp the ends of the strips when he lifts the handle and knife-bar. The lifting of the handle swings up the arm D, hung upon the stud O, which carries the gear B, and the pawl E turns said gear and thereby actuates the feed-rollers X Y and storagereel Z to draw forward and wind up the record-strip. Inasmuch as it is necessary for the clerk to lift the knife-bar at each operation in order to catch hold of the ends of the check'strips which lie beneath it, the drawing forward and winding up of the record-strip each time is assured. To compel him to lift the knife-bar not only far enough to enable him to grasp the ends of the strips but also far enough to insure the drawing forward of the full proper length of the record-strip, the bar carries a pendent pin J, which passes through the check-strips and through a hole in the top plate D of the front Wall of the casing when the knife-bar is depressed. 'lhe check-strips cannot be drawn forward with-.

out tearing them until the bar has been lifted high enough to withdraw the pin J from the strips. This much of the machine is substantially thesame as that shown and described in my aforesaid pending application.

The first feature of my present improvement consists in the combination of a marking or puncturing device with the recordstrip and the hinged front wall and its locking devices in such manner that said strip will preserve a record of the unlockings and openings of the machine. This front wall is unlocked and thrown forward to the position shown in Fig. 3 to give access to the storagereel each time it is desired to remove the record-strip wound thereon. This wheel is removably mounted in its bearings, and when the proprietordesires to take the record from the machine he inserts a key in the lock L and throws down the bolt K, whereupon the spring M rocks the shaft Iand throws up the dogs F and releases the front wall 0. When the latter is swung forward, as shown in Fig.

3, the record-strip may be severed at a point between the feed-rollers X Y and storage-reel Z, and the latter removed with the detached record wound upon it.

If a clerk should get possesion of a key which would operate the lock he might open the machine and remove a portion of the record-strip which was wound upon the storagereel. To provide an additional safeguard against any such fraudulent removal of the record-strip, I employ a puncturing device, which is thrust through the record-strip each time the machine is unlocked and thereby not only produces a record of the unlocking of the machine but also prevents any further movement of the record-strip over the writing-tablets and between the feed-rollers until the machine is closed and locked again. Inthe form illustrated in the drawings this device consists of a curved pin K, fixed to the rock-shaft I and extending forward beneath the rear feedroller X. When said shaft is rocked forward and the dogs F are engaged with the catchplates G, holding the front wall locked up in position, the front end of this pin will stand immediately in the rear of the record-strip as it passes from the feed-rollers X Y to the storage-reel Z, as seen in Fig. 2. W'hen the machine is unlocked and the spring M throws up the dogs F and rocks the shaft I,the front end of the pin will be thrust through the strip, as seen in Fig. 3. The hole thus made in the strip will constitute a record of the fact that the machine has been unlocked and opened, and as the pin remains engaged with the strip until the machine is locked again it will prevent any further withdrawal of the paper.

Even should the clerk depress the dogs F with his hand while the machine remains open, and thereby withdraw the pin from the strip, so that he could draw forward the strip and tear oh? the portion containing the hole made by the pin, he cannot swing the front wall up into position without reieasing the dogs, and when released the spring M will immediately rock the shaft and dogs to the position shown in Fig. 3 and thrust the pin through the paper again. Thus, after the machine is unlocked and opened there is no way to close and lock it again without leaving a record of such opening and closing upon the recordstrip. The arrangement and mode of opera tion of this puncturing-pin which I have described is suitable to the machine illustrated in the drawings, but it may be applied in different ways to other machines and even to this machine. I have shown it as operated by the lock,but it is evident that it might be operated equally as well directly by the swinging front wall of the casing, or any other door or lid which had to be opened to give access to the interiorof the casing. Such being the case, my invention in this respect is not restricted to any particular character of machine or to any particular arrangement or manuerofoperatingthepin,bntcontemplates,

broadly, the combination of such pin or equiv-- alent puncturing or marking device, with the door or lid and the movable record-strip of an autographie register in such manner that said device will puncture or mark the strip each time the door or lid is opened to give access to the interior of. the machine. It will be noticed that the lower end of the spring M, heretofore described, is connected to a pin L upon the rear end of the arm D, whose front end is connected by the link F with the knife-bar S. So far as its co-operation with the rockshaft I and parts carried thereby is concerned, the lower end of this spring could as well be secured to the side of the casing or other fixed point; and so far as its co-operation with the arm D and connected parts is concerned the upper end of the spring could as well be secured directly to the shaft I or other fixed point. Two separate springs might, therefore, be employed, one for the arm D and the other for the rock-shaft I.

The application of the spring to the arm D is for the following purpose: In the machine shown and described in my aforesaid pending application there was no spring applied to the arm D or knife-bar S, and it was found that in the use of the machine the clerk or operator was liable to throw up the handle and knifebar to grasp the ends of the strips, and then inadvertently tear ofi the strips against the lower front edge of the lid at M, instead of depressing the handle and knife -bar and tearing them otf against the serrated edge U of the latter. In such case the ends of the strips would be left immediately beneath the front end of the lid, so that it would be impossible to catch hold of them at-the next operation of the machine. The spring M in my present machine yieldingly holds the handle and knife-bar in their depressed position, and they have to be lifted against the tension of such spring, so that if the clerk throws up the handle and knife-bar and releases them they will be drawn down by the spring, instead of remaining up and giving him the opportunity to tear off the strips against the edge of the lid. He could hold up the handle against the stress of the spring and tear OK the strips against the lid if he desired; but there is no object in his doing this, and the purpose of the spring is simply to prevent his doing so inadvertently. It is evident that the spring could be applied to the knife-bar otherwise than by attachment to the arm D, but the latter is a convenient arrangement of it.

The remaining feature of my invention is designed to prevent a fraudulent manipulation of the machine, by which only a part of the items written upon the outer check-strip are duplicated upon the inner check-strip. In the practical employment of these machines the outer check, which usually has the proprietors name and business address and advertisement printed upon it, is given to the customer with his goods, while the duplicate check goes to the book-keeper or cashier. One

method of defrauding the proprietor which has heretofore been practiced has been to first write a part of the items of the sale upon the outer check-strip through the opening in the lid, and then slip said strip far enough to the left to permit a stiff card to be inserted between its right-hand edge and the rightband edge of the opening, and then slip the card across the opening between the outer strip and the carbon-sheet beneath it. Then the remaining items would be written upon the strip above this card, and consequently would not be duplicated upon the strip or strips beneath. The clerk would'then collect from the customer the full amount of the purchase-money, as called for by the total of the items written upon the outer strip, but would turn over to the cashier or proprietor only the amount called for by the items duplicated upon the lower strip.

Where the clerk was required to enter the total of the items in a footing at the bottom of the check, such fraudulent manipulation was not so easy, but even then it could be practised in many cases. Thus if one of two items to be entered was fifty cents and the other a dollar, the clerk could first enter the fifty-cent item and then insert the card befor entering the dollar item, and then enter a footing of fifty cents, which footing would be duplicated upon the lower check-strip and record-strip, so that each of the latter two would show simply one item of fifty cents and a footing of fifty cents. Then he could pull out and tear off the two check-strips and afterward add a dollar to the footing on the check which he gives to the customer, so that this latter check would show both the fiftycents and dollar items and a footing of a dollar and a half. In my improved machine I prevent such manipulation by rendering it impossible, or exceedingly difficult, to insert a card beneath the outer check-strip. To this end I provide one or more guard-bars N, extending transversely across the opening in the lid, as seen in Fig. 1, where two such bars are shown. The presence of these cross-bars renders it more difficult to insert a card beneath the right-hand edge of the outer strip and the edge of the opening in the lid. Where the strips are considerably wider than the opening and two or'lnore such cross-bars are employed, as shown in Fig. 1, it so difficult to insert a card beneath the outer strip that fraudulent manipulation of the machine in this manner is wholly impracticable. Of course the exact arrangement as well as the number of the cross-bars may be varied. If desired, the opening may be provided with a bar extending across it transversely to those shown in the drawings along the line immediately to the left of the column for the entry of dollars, and a second parallel bar may also extend across it along the line dividing the dollars column from the cents column. Again, the guard-bars N, instead of extending entirely across the opening, might simply project a short distance to the left from the right-hand edge of the opening. In a recess or seat 0' in the rearhorizontal por tion of the lid I place a block or pad of paper P, which may be detachably secured to the lid in any suitable manner, and which is in convenientposition for the clerk to use its sheets to make calculations or enter memoranda upon. When all the sheets of the block are used up, the usualpasteboard bottom sheet, if the blocks are provided with them, can be removedand a new block placed in position.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim 1. In an autographic register having one or more check-strips and a record-strip led over a writing-tablet beneath an opening in the casing and having manifolding material interposed between the strips, the combination, with the casing, of a dooror lid required to be opened to permit access to therecordwstrip, a lock for holding the door orlid closed, having a reciprocating bolt capable of being thrown by a key from the-exterior of the casing, a pin for puncturing the record-strip, moved in one direction by the reciprocating lock-bolt when the latter is thrown by the key, and a spring for moving it in the opposite direction, whereby the record-strip is punctured at each operation of the lock to preserve arecord of the lockings and unlockings of the door or lid, substantially as described.

2. In an autographic register in which the record-strip is drawn by feed-rollers X Y from a roll W, over a writing-tablet Q, and thence woundnpon a storage-reel Z, thecombination of the hinged front wall-0r door 0, the rockshaft 1, locking-dog F, fast upon the rockshaft and co-operating with a catch upon the Wall 0, the puncturing-pin K and arm J, carried by the shaft I, and the locking-bolt K and spring M, cooperating with said shaft, substantially as described.

3. In an autographic register, the combination of a hinged knife-bar for severing the check-strips, a storage-reel connected to and actuated by the movements of the knife-bar to wind up the record-strip, and a resettingconnected with the knife-bar-S, and the resetting-spring M, substantially as described.

5. In an autographic register having a tablet-plate over which the paper strips are drawn and an opening in the casing above said tablet plate, through which opening melnoranda maybe written upon the outer strip, the combination,with the.casing,of the guard bar or bars projecting from .the edge of said opening over the right-hand portion of the paper strips for the purpose of preventing the insertion of a card or plate beneath the outer strip, substantially as described.

6. In an autographic register, the combination of the tablet Q, over which the paper theopeningRabove said plate, and the guard bars N, extending across said opening, substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

JOHN PFEIFER. Witnesses:

THOMAS .CORWIN, PEARL N. SIGLER.

strips are drawn, the lid of the casing having 

